Wet wipes are well known commercial consumer products that are available in many forms. Commonly, wet wipes are provided as a stack of rectangular-shaped, moistened sheets packaged in a plastic container. Conventional wet wipes have been made from a variety of materials and have been moistened with a variety of suitable wiping solutions. Wet wipes can be used as baby wipes, hand wipes, household cleaning wipes, industrial wipes, and the like.
Conventional wet wipes are available in either folded or unfolded configurations. For example, stacks of wet wipes have been available wherein each of the wet wipes in the stack has been arranged in a folded configuration, such as a c-folded, z-folded, or quarter-folded configuration. Wet wipes in stacks of folded wet wipes have been interfolded with the wet wipes immediately above and below in the stack of wet wipes. Additionally, wet wipes have been provided in the form of continuous webs of material that include perforations to separate the individual wet wipes and that are wound into rolls and packaged in plastic containers.
Typically, the stacks of wet wipes have been designed to provide one-at-a-time dispensing, which can be accomplished using a single hand. Such single-handed, one-at-a-time dispensing, is particularly desirable because the other hand of the user is typically required to be simultaneously used for other activities. For example, when changing a diaper product on an infant, the user typically uses one hand to hold and maintain the infant in a desired position while the other hand is searching for a wet wipe to clean the infant.
However, the dispensing of wet wipes that have been folded and arranged in stacks has not been completely satisfactory. For example, on occasion two wet wipes will stick together upon dispensing, causing the user to use two hands and waste time using the product. This inconsistency in the products dispensability can reduce the appeal of the product to the consumer. Thus, there remains a need in the industry to provide wet wipes having improved dispensability.
The present invention addresses one or more of the issues discussed and provides for wet wipes having improved dispensability. It has been discovered that in stacks of conventional wet wipes comprising multiple clips of z-folded wet wipes, the adhesion between the last wet wipe of one clip and the first wet wipe of the next clip is significantly less than the adhesion between wet wipes within the same clip. This difference in adhesion levels too often causes the last wet wipe of the first clip to adhere to the next-to-last wet wipe as the next-to-last wet wipe is being dispensed by the user. The present invention provides for more uniform adhesion between the individual wet wipes in stacks of z-folded wet wipes, improving the dispensability of the z-folded wet wipes.
The present invention can provide for increased adhesion between the last wipe in a clip and the first wipe in the next clip or increased adhesion between the last wipe in a clip and the bottom of a container housing the clip. The present invention can also provide for decreased adhesion between the next-to-last wipe in a clip and the last wipe in a clip. Thus, the present invention reduces the number of times the last wipe in a clip sticks to the next-to-last wipe in a clip when the next-to-last wipe is dispensed.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a clip of z-folded wet wipes. Generally, the last wipe in a clip according to the present invention comprises a bottom portion that has a surface area greater than the surface area of the top portion. Typically, the bottom portion of the last wipe will have a surface area greater than about 55 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In one aspect, the bottom portion of the last wipe has a surface area greater than about 65 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In another aspect, the bottom portion of the last wipe has a surface area about 75 percent of the surface area of the center portion. Also, the top portion of the last wipe in a clip typically will have a surface area less than about 45 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In one aspect, the top portion of the last wipe has a surface area less than about 35 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In another aspect, the top portion of the last wipe has a surface area that is about 25 percent of the surface area of the center portion.
Generally, the next-to-last wipe in a clip according to the present invention comprises a bottom portion that has a surface area less than the surface area of the top portion. Typically, the bottom portion of the next-to-last wipe will have a surface area less than about 45 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In one aspect, the bottom portion of the last wipe has a surface area less than about 35 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In another aspect, the bottom portion of the next-to-last wipe has a surface area about 25 percent of the surface area of the center portion. Also, the top portion of the next-to-last wipe in a clip typically will have a surface area greater than about 55 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In one aspect, the top portion of the next-to-last wipe has a surface area greater than about 65 percent of the surface area of the center portion. In another aspect, the top portion of the next-to-last wipe has a surface area that is about 75 percent of the surface area of the center portion.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a stack of z-folded wet wipes. Stacks of wet wipes according to the present invention can be produced by positioning a first clip of z-folded wet wipes on top of a second clip of z-folded wet wipes. The clips utilized to produce stacks of wet wipes according to the present invention can be those clips described above.